CINEMATIC REVELATIONS allows me the luxury of writing, editing and archiving my film and television reviews. Some reviews appeared initially in "The Commercial Dispatch" and "The Planet Weekly" and then later in the comment archives at the Internet Movie Database. IMDB.COM, however, imposes a limit on both the number of words and the number of times that an author may revise their comments. I hope that anybody who peruses these expanded reviews will find them useful.

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Sunday, June 4, 2017

FILM REVIEW OF ''LIVE BY NIGHT" (2017)

Two-time
Oscar-winning writer & director Ben Affleck of “Good Will Hunting”
and “Argo” has helmed an above-average, old-fashioned, Prohibition Era
gangster epic “Live by Night” (***1/2
OUT OF ****) with himself as star that bears greater resemblance to
Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in America” (1984) with Robert De Niro
than Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” (1972) with Marlon Brando.At
the same time, Affleck has tampered with the violent, empire-building gangster film formula.Mind you, “Live by Night” isn’t strictly traditional in its depiction of gangsters.Instead of machine gun massacres in
the urban canyons of a northern metropolis, “Live by Night” stages
machine gun massacres at luxury resort hotels amid the scenic splendor
of rural southern Florida.Like the antihero that Affleck
portrays with considerable style, charm, and restraint, “Live by Night”
doesn’t abide by all gangster movie rules, particularly the tragic
ending.Nevertheless,
crime still doesn’t pay for the protagonist. As in most gangster movies, the mobsters count on avarice, treachery, blackmail, and betrayal to achieve their infamy. Affleck’s
armed and dangerous anti-hero, however, displays neither the aggressive
pugnacity of Edward G. Robinson in “Little Caesar” (1931) nor does he
behave like James Cagney’s trigger-happy hoodlum in “The Public Enemy”
(1931.)Instead,
he imitates Robert De Niro’s Jewish gangster David 'Noodles' Aaronson in the Leone masterpiece.Affleck’s Irish-American hooligan Joe Coughlin knows when to say ‘no’ and abandon the business
before his rivals riddle him with bullets to kingdom come.My
only complaint—and it constitutes more of a quibble—is the 2 hours plus
running time. This chronicle about a self-proclaimed ‘outlaw’
who ascends from the ranks of blue-collar, unaffiliated thieves and
emerges as the white-collar chieftain of a mob-supervised,
multi-million-dollar enterprise doesn’t exactly lunge off the screen.Affleck
allows things to develop gradually and steeps the logistics of crime in atmosphere galore as well as memorable characters.Strong villains make the best movies with their notorious skullduggery.Faithfully adapting the second novel in Dennis Lahane’s Coughlin series, Affleck tangles with three unforgettable dastards.

The
son of an incorruptible Boston Police Deputy Superintendent, Joe
Coughlin (Ben Affleck of “The Town”) refuses to accommodate his father,
Thomas Coughlin (Brendan Gleeson of “Gangs
of New York”), when it comes to being a law-abiding citizen.Joe
survived the devastating trench warfare of World War I in France as a
U.S. Marine while men around him perished by the dozens
on the battlefield.He
has come home to Boston with nothing but utter contempt for the
politicians who sold out the troops at the international treaty
negotiation.Joe vows never to take orders again. Things don’t pan out exactly as our hero had anticipated. Initially,
Joe and two masked accomplices knock over an illegal, high-stakes poker
game with a paid-off insider, Emma Gould (Sienna Miller of “American
Sniper”), who knows her way around Boston. Eventually,
one of Boston’s most notorious gangsters, Albert White (Robert Glenister
of “Safe Conduct”), learns that Joe has been raiding his venues. White insists that our protagonist join his gang and
use his skills for something more appropriate to his talents. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the jealous White, Joe has been sneaking around behind White’s back with his mistress Emma. Mafia
crime boss Maso Pescatore (Remo Girone of “Angel with a Gun”) summons Joe and asks him to kill White.Adamantly, Joe refuses to attach himself to the Italians.Maso threatens to inform on Joe if he doesn’t eliminate White.

Meantime, Joe plans a big bank robbery so Emma and he can flee to California with some capital. The robbery goes sideways.Three
policemen die trying to nab Joe and his accomplices. Eventually, White catches up with Joe after Emma betrays him.White
brutally beats Joe up.He is poised to finish him off when Thomas Coughlin rolls up with the Boston Police in tow.Thomas
arrests Joe, but he convinces a harsh judge prosecute his son on lesser charges since Joe’s accomplices killed the cops.Furthermore, Thomas informs Joe that Emma died when her getaway car
plunged into the river.Joe sweats out forty months behind bars in the Charlestown State Prison.After
his release, Joe
offers to work for the Pescatore family, and Maso dispatches him to Ybor
City, Tampa, Florida, to handle their rum-running enterprise.No sooner has Joe set up shop than the evil White dispatches
not only his own henchmen but also hooded KKK gunmen to make life miserable for our hero.Joe creates an enormously profitable operation for Maso.Nevertheless,
he doesn’t abandon his yearning to wreck vengeance on White for what he did not only to him but also Emma.

“Foxcatcher”
production designer Jess Gonchor, “Tree of Life” costume designer
Jacqueline West, and “Forrest Gump” set decorator Nancy Haigh has
painstakingly recreated both the glory
and the squalor of the Prohibition Era.The
gangsters attire themselves lavishly in posh suits with fedora-style
hats, while their dames doll themselves up with equal magnificence.The gangsters cruise around in vintage
cars of the period, and their henchmen wield that indispensable weapon
of the day: the .45-caliber, Thompson submachine gun with drum magazines
rather than stick magazines.Indeed, Affleck has preserved
virtually all the elements of the classic gangster movie during the
Depression about illegal rum-runners.After
fate cheats
Joe with Emma’s sudden death, he gets involved romantically with a
gorgeous Cuban lady, Graciela Suarez (Zoe Saldana of “Star Trek
Beyond”), who participates in the business of selling illegal rum with
her brother.“Live
by Night” doesn’t dwell only on the gangsters and their illicit
business, but also in the lives of the supporting characters,
particularly a young woman (Elle Fanning) who suffered from the
adversity of heroin addiction and later becomes an evangelist to protest
vice of any kind.The cast is superb, and nobody gives a bad performance.Despite
its leisurely, slow-burn pace, “Live
by Night” manages to present the exploits of gangsters in a setting and
manner that few gangster movies have, especially with its lukewarm
finale.